The Royal Fiancé -White Prince- Chapter 1 Part 4

In this long update:

Shiori's talent (I'm not even kidding) and slight angst (if you can detect it, it's kinda obscure for now) regarding Shiori's position in the country.

But let's see how it goes, shall we?

Things to know:

What is the difference between champagnes and wines?

The easy and short answer is that sparkling wine can only be called Champagne if it comes from the region of Champagne, France, which is just outside of Paris. Further, champagne can only be made using Chardonnay, Pinot Noir, and Pinot Meunier. (Copied from Google)

PS I have not confirmed Kurosaki's first name hahahah need to find my bro's kanji dictionary.

Disclaimer:

I DO NOT OWN THIS WORK, ASUMA RISAI (the author) DOES.

PS. Nobody owns Shiori either.

For any re-posts or re-uploads, please credit this blog!

And now, on to the real stuff.

Previously on the Royal Fiance... http://blacksoulz.blogspot.com/2016/01/the-royal-fiance-white-prince-chapter-1.html 

The adjacent room boasted of a wine cellar, along with air-conditioning set at the optimal temperature for wine storage. A table with six wine glasses was already placed in the centre of the room.

It seemed that after the long-winded and selection process by Shiori's subordinates, there were on six candidates whose champagne made the cut this year.

Amongst the several hundreds of vineyards, only seventeen brands which boasted the usage of ingredients of the highest quality in their wine-making process were shortlisted for this prestigious selection process. Another round of selection was made amongst these brands, leaving behind the six champagnes that were aligned neatly on the tabletop.

Which champagne, out of these six champagnes, would have the honour of being branded as the well-sought after title of 'royal champagne'?

Although some champagnes had been shortlisted every year and made it to the final tasting stage carried out by Shiori, some were never approved of and given the royal branding by Shiori. Needless to say, this exemplifies Shiori's stringent standards with regards to the wine's quality and the overall quality control.

Upon Shiori's arrival, his subordinates immediately stepped forward and filled the wineglasses with the with the six short-listed champagnes individually. The brands of these champagnes was kept an absolute secret from Shiori to prevent any sort of bias.

"I wonder what sort of quality these champagnes can offer to its consumers?"

Even though the champagnes' quality might be higher than those selected for the previous year's tasting, it does not necessarily mean that the champagne is qualified to carry the royal branding. With the royal branding being something so elusive and hard-to-get, champagne producers had been clamouring for and relentlessly fighting to produce a champagne that can attain this seal of quality. Shiori sipped the champagnes glass by glass. Most of the champagnes featured a bright yellow coloured body, while a few of them had a slight pinkish tint. A continuous stream of fine and long-lasting bubbles in these champagnes made them look much more luxurious.

"This uses Western Pears as a key ingredient, and places much emphasis on the fruity flavour. The moment it enters one's mouth, its deep and strong warm flavour can be tasted, and it has a pleasant aftertaste that lingers. "

Champagnes that have a fruity emphasis, champagnes that were centered upon roses, violets, or other similar types of flowers, champagnes that adopts a candy-like taste for emphasis. There was a wide variety of champagne in this round of testing, and all of them had rich and complex personalities.

The perfect amount of balance between acidity and its own distinct flavour, a strong yet refreshing and light taste upon the first sip, a sublime appearance... Most people would be satisfied with just a champagne that tastes good.  However, paying attention to the hard work that the wine-makers had put into the wine-making process - from the selection of ingredients to the fermentation was equally important.

Shiori is someone who is able to point out minute discrepancies in the champagnes that even his helpers could not spot - this very talent of Shiori was the value and place that he has in Ecuratol. Although the champagnes in front of him has already been through several rounds of inspections by his subordinates, some champagnes' acidity levels would still leave some consumers unsatisfied, some champagnes tasted too delicate and refined, making them feel dull, while some other champagnes simply tasted too shallow, making them overly refreshing. In particular, the second champagne from the right had a rough aftertaste that would linger on the tip of its consumer's tongue.

After the selection is over, I will give my subordinates a good lecture. How could they even think of allowing this sort of thing to run as a royal champagne candidate? Are they not afraid of shaming the royal family's name?

This champagne simply lacked depth. had a sharp aftertaste, and could only leave a slight hint of a banana's fragrance. Furthermore, the intensity of the champagne upon entering the mouth was too much, making the consumer feel as if one's tongue had gone numb.

Just like a tongue that had been sucked, and willfully being pursued and intertwined with another's tongue.

Just like...what had happened with that man.

Shiori placed that wine glass down, and lifted the wine glass that was beside it.

"Your Highness, are you not feeling well?"

Upon seeing Shiori being in a trance and not moving upon picking up another wine glass, his secretary could not help by crease his eyebrows.  Realising that his secretary had a face plastered with worry, Shiori hurriedly gave a small cough. He placed the wine glass he was holding back onto the table, on the right side of the terrible-tasting champagne instead of its original position. (Which was the left side of the terrible-tasting champagne.)

"My apologies. I was merely deep in thought." Shiori did not like to cause trouble for others when he was working.

"I would like you to paste the 'royal branding' seal onto the champagne that is the third from the right. Following that, do distribute this champagne to the importers in Japan.", ordered Shiori while gesturing to the wine glass he was referring to.

"Yes, Your Highness."

"Your Highness, this evening's work has already be completed. I will be rescheduling the assignments that were originally lined up for the rest of today to another day. Please take a good, short rest."

Although Shiori insisted that he did not need to rest, his secretary remained adamant about Shiori taking a breather. The secretary immediately cancelled Shiori's remaining engagement for the day, and made sure that he returned to his room to get a good rest.

To Shiori, work was a distraction. When he is alone, he could not help but recall the events that day... Shiori shook his head in disdain.

The remnants of the heat simply could not be cooled down. The secretary most likely mistook Shiori's gesture when he was reflecting as an indication that Shiori was running a slight fever.

Shiori reclined on the long sofa and absentmindedly browsed through a book with a warm, thick blanket rested over his legs.

However, nothing went into Shiori's head.

Shiori looked up to take a quick glance at the gold clock nested above a chest of ornate drawers.

It was now six in the evening.

The champagne that would be served at the banquet in Japan should have already been shipped over, hasn't it?

All of a sudden, Shiori heard a disturbance outside of the room that broke the tranquil atmosphere.

"His Highness is not feeling well currently. I do not think it is very appropriate to inform His Highness of the news now......"

"This is a very urgent matter. We are in no position to settle this matter. Only His Highness can make the judgement call."

Shiori abruptly turned his whole body to face the direction where the hushed voices came from.

"I am afraid that, should the report be made at a later time, it would greatly increase the burden on His Highness." The speaker sounded terribly panicked.

Shiori's heart felt uneasy. He stood up from the sofa, and opened the door.

"May I know what is happening?"

" Your Highness......!"

            

Both his secretary and a clerk were standing at the doorway of his room.

"Your condition......" Shiori's secretary was visibly concerned about his health.

"I am fine. I overheard that something urgent has cropped up. May I know what has happened?"

"Er......"

Upon Shiori's inquiry, his secretary looked uncomfortably in all four directions.

Is this about a sensitive matter that should not be accidentally overheard by others?

Shiori allowed his secretary to enter his room and closed the door behind him.

Although it was Shiori's room, his actual bedroom was further in, in a separate room altogether. There was a small sitting area near the entrance of his room, and that was where he usually gives instructions to his subordinates.

Shiori sat at the window-side table while his secretary and clerk remained standing.

"Speak."   

Both the secretary and the clerk swallowed nervously. The secretary took the files from the clerk and produced a document from the file.

"Just this evening, Your Highness, you carried out the selection for this year's royal champagne......"

"Yes."

Shiori even ordered the clerk who was standing beside the secretary to paste the seal of approval onto that champagne's bottle personally. His secretary, who was had a few bottles of champagne on hand, went pale.

"Your Highness, it seems that you had selected this champagne to be a royal champagne. Before we shipped the stocks to Japan, we sent one bottle of it as a gift to an important client of our country. According to his testimony, the champagne was......hard to stomach."

"What did you say?"

Shiori felt wronged and at the same time, had a very stern expression on his face. He had absolute confidence in his own abilities to select grape wines that has the best quality and taste.

This very quality of Shiori was the only value that Shiori had in this country.

As this very allegation was denying the very reason for Shiori to exist in this country, Shiori simply could not afford to speak up against such slander.

"Was the other party merely being picky in order to gain an upper hand in an agreement with the Royal Family? Or was the other party simply not willing to pay for this champagne?"

"But......Please have a taste of this champagne, Your Highness."

The secretary took a wine glass and poured the golden-bodied champagne...... Shiori had a bad feeling about this.

With the champagne that was just approved by him in the wine glass, he hurriedly raised the wine glass to his lips. Almost instantaneously, a burning sensation that made one's tongue numb and taste a slight burnt flavour spread through his mouth.

"This is......"

Impossible.

Shiori could not believe it - he took another sip.

The flavour remained unchanged.  With the air bubbles being too large, the taste of the champagne comes across as lacking refinement and gentleness.

Shiori rinsed his mouth and drank the champagne that was placed beside the low-quality champagne during the taste test in the evening. This time, a gentle and bright fragrance spread through his mouth. There was nothing to pick on regarding this champagne's appearance and impeccable taste.

"I am very sorry, Your Highness. This is an honest mistake on my part - I misunderstood that this year's royal branding would be awarded to the champagne that was placed the third from the right."

This taste......No.

The champagne that was placed second from the right had the worst quality amongst all the champagnes that evening, and Shiori even remembered that he wanted to admonish his subordinates  for allowing such a champagne to make it into the final round of tasting. The champagne that was the third from the right was indeed, if Shiori remembered correctly, a champagne worthy of attaining the royal branding.

(Ah......!)

A flashback to the obscene incident that had occurred during the banquet dominated Shiori's thoughts when he was doing the wine-tasting. Flustered, Shiori placed the champagne back into the wrong position. That was, to place the good champagne which was originally third from the right......onto the right-hand side of the terrible-tasting champagne.

"The champagne placed third from the right is this year's royal champagne."

The two champagne's position had then been unconsciously switched.

As the champagne needed to be shipped out that afternoon, making time really tight on Shiori's side, the secretary unquestioningly followed his orders.

This mistake was the fault of Shiori's order.

The table clattered loudly as Shiori stood up.

"This is a mistake on my part." Shiori's face was a deathly pale white as he admitted his blunder to his crestfallen secretary. Not many people are able to admit their own mistakes without putting the blame onto others first. That is the reason why Shiori could not betray the trust that his subordinates had put in him.

"The champagne that was placed on the right-hand side of this bottle of champagne was the champagne that I had intended to label as a royal champagne. What is the status of the export to Japan?" Shiori could not afford to sit still with the status of the shipment unknown to him.

The champagnes had already been packaged and air-flown out of the country."

"Is it still possible for us to recall the exports and immediately exchange it with the actual champagne that has the royal branding?" Without hesitation, Shiori offered an alternative.

"Even if this champagne were to be air-flown, it is not possible for it to arrive in time for tomorrow's banquet in Japan."

"I understand. However, it is unbecoming of us to allow such a champagne to be branded as a royal champagne and be distributed to the world. Are there any updates from the champagne's company?", Shiori hurriedly questioned.

His secretary hung his head low and replied, "The other party has told us that.......we had utterly embarrassed him. He has already contacted a Japanese wine importer and ordered a large amount of top-quality French wine to provided for tomorrow's banquet. In total, this has cost the other party several thousands in damages......"

Shiori boarded the limousine driven by his subordinate, and headed to the hotel that the champagne's wine-maker, who was also a major importer of Ecutatean wines, was staying at.

It seems that this exporter makes frequent trips to Ecuratol, and as such, had bought the Presidential Suite in this hotel and converted it into his own personal office.

It was rumoured that the entrepreneur and director of this champagne's company is a young man in his late twenties. Although the company is a relatively new establishment and has been set up amidst a slowing economy, the year-on-year profits that this company earns has been steadily increasing.

Even in the wine industry, this man's ability to make wise and well-informed buiness decisions was well-known.

Oki Kurosaki.

A Japanese.

Page 40 something-ish

Wewew updates! Took me a damn long time to translate the whole part about Shiori doing wine tasting. But it was worth it heh.

Went into a sudden overdrive in wanting to translate again. Burnt out from studying I guess.

The next update will take really, really long (Although I did do up some offline translation.) All I can say that the next update is finally going to feature some action that Kurosaki (?) has been desperately waiting for ahahah

Till next time

Cheers!

Note: This is just a one person thing, so there's no proof readers or grammar checks and the like. Pardon any errors! Do feel free to point out any mistakes you spot.